Selective radio frequency (rf) reference beam radiation in a wireless communications system (wcs) based on user equipment (ue) locations

ABSTRACT

Selective radiation of radio frequency (RF) reference beams in a wireless communications system (WCS) based on user equipment (UE) locations is disclosed. The WCS may include a radio node that communicates RF communications signals in a coverage area via RF beamforming. Thus, the radio node is required to periodically radiate a number of RF reference beams in different directions of the coverage area to help UEs to identify a best-possible RF beam(s). However, radiating the RF beams in different directions periodically can increase power consumption of the radio node, particularly when the UEs are concentrated at a handful of locations in the coverage area. In this regard, the radio node can be configured to selectively radiate a subset of the RF reference beams based on a determined location(s) of the UE(s) in the coverage area, thus making it possible to reduce computational complexity and power consumption of the radio node.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/535,186, filed Nov. 24, 2021, which claims thebenefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 63/118,433, filed Nov. 25, 2020, the content ofeach of which is relied upon and incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND

The disclosure relates generally to radiating a radio frequency (RF)reference beam(s) in a wireless communications system (WCS), such as afifth-generation (5G) or a 5G new-radio (5G-NR) system and/or adistribute communications system (DCS).

Wireless communication is rapidly growing, with ever-increasing demandsfor high-speed mobile data communication. As an example, local areawireless services (e.g., so-called “wireless fidelity” or “WiFi”systems) and wide area wireless services are being deployed in manydifferent types of areas (e.g., coffee shops, airports, libraries,etc.). Communications systems have been provided to transmit and/ordistribute communications signals to wireless devices called “clients,”“client devices,” or “wireless client devices,” which must reside withinthe wireless range or “cell coverage area” in order to communicate withan access point device. Example applications where communicationssystems can be used to provide or enhance coverage for wireless servicesinclude public safety, cellular telephony, wireless local accessnetworks (LANs), location tracking, and medical telemetry insidebuildings and over campuses. One approach to deploying a communicationssystem involves the use of radio nodes/base stations that transmitcommunications signals distributed over physical communications mediumremote units forming RF antenna coverage areas, also referred to as“antenna coverage areas.” The remote units each contain or areconfigured to couple to one or more antennas configured to support thedesired frequency(ies) of the radio nodes to provide the antennacoverage areas. Antenna coverage areas can have a radius in a range froma few meters up to twenty meters, as an example. Another example of acommunications system includes radio nodes, such as base stations, thatform cell radio access networks, wherein the radio nodes are configuredto transmit communications signals wirelessly directly to client deviceswithout being distributed through intermediate remote units.

For example, FIG. 1 is an example of a DCS 100 that includes a radionode 102 configured to support one or more service providers104(1)-104(N) as signal sources (also known as “carriers” or “serviceoperators”—e.g., mobile network operators (MNOs)) and wireless clientdevices 106(1)-106(W). For example, the radio node 102 may be a basestation (eNodeB) that includes modem functionality and is configured todistribute communications signal streams 108(1)-108(S) to the wirelessclient devices 106(1)-106(W) based on downlink communications signals110(1)-110(N) received from the service providers 104(1)-104(N). Thecommunications signal streams 108(1)-108(S) of each respective serviceprovider 104(1)-104(N) in their different spectrums are radiated throughan antenna 112 to the wireless client devices 106(1)-106(W) in acommunication range of the antenna 112. For example, the antenna 112 maybe an antenna array. As another example, the radio node 102 in the DCS100 in FIG. 1 can be a small cell radio access node (“small cell”) thatis configured to support the multiple service providers 104(1)-104(N) bydistributing the communications signal streams 108(1)-108(S) for themultiple service providers 104(1)-104(N) based on respective downlinkcommunications signals 110(1)-110(N) received from a respective evolvedpacket core (EPC) network CN₁-CN_(N) of the service providers104(1)-104(N) through interface connections. The radio node 102 includesradio circuits 118(1)-118(N) for each service provider 104(1)-104(N)that are configured to create multiple simultaneous signal beams(“beams”) 120(1)-120(N) for the communications signal streams108(1)-108(S) to serve multiple wireless client devices 106(1)-106(W).For example, the multiple beams 120(1)-120(N) may supportmultiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) communications.

The radio node 102 of the DCS 100 in FIG. 1 may be configured to supportservice providers 104(1)-104(N) that have a different frequency spectrumand do not share the spectrum. Thus, in this instance, the downlinkcommunications signals 110(1)-110(N) from the different serviceproviders 104(1)-104(N) do not interfere with each other even iftransmitted by the radio node 102 at the same time. The radio node 102may also be configured as a shared spectrum communications system wherethe multiple service providers 104(1)-104(N) have a shared spectrum. Inthis regard, the capacity supported by the radio node 102 for the sharedspectrum is split (i.e. shared) between the multiple service providers104(1)-104(N) for providing services to the subscribers.

The radio node 102 in FIG. 1 can also be coupled to a DCS, such as adistributed antenna system (DAS), such that the radio circuits118(1)-118(N) remotely distribute the downlink communications signals110(1)-110(N) of the multiple service providers 104(1)-104(N) to remoteunits. The remote units can each include an antenna array that includestens or even hundreds of antennas for concurrently radiating thedownlink communications signals 110(1)-110(N) to subscribers usingspatial multiplexing. Herein, the spatial multiplexing is a scheme thattakes advantage of the differences in RF channels between transmittingand receiving antennas to provide multiple independent streams betweenthe transmitting and receiving antennas, thus increasing throughput bysending data over parallel streams. Accordingly, the remote units can besaid to radiate the downlink communications signals 110(1)-110(N) tosubscribers based on a massive multiple-input multiple-output (M-MIMO)scheme.

No admission is made that any reference cited herein constitutes priorart. Applicant expressly reserves the right to challenge the accuracyand pertinency of any cited documents.

SUMMARY

Embodiments disclosed herein include selective radio frequency (RF)reference beam radiation in a wireless communications system (WCS) basedon user equipment (UE) locations. In a non-limiting example, the WCSincludes a radio node, such as a fifth-generation new radio (5G-NR) basestation (gNoteB), configured to communicate RF communications signalswith a number of UEs in a coverage area based on RF beamforming. Thus,the radio node is required to periodically radiate a number of RFreference beams (e.g., up to sixty-four) in different directions of thecoverage area to help the UEs to identify a best-possible RF beam(s) forcommunication with the radio node. However, radiating the RF beams indifferent directions periodically can increase computational complexityand power consumption of the radio node, particularly when the UEs areconcentrated at a handful of locations in the coverage area. In thisregard, the radio node can be configured to selectively radiate a subsetof the RF reference beams based on a determined location(s) of the UE(s)in the coverage area, thus making it possible to reduce computationalcomplexity and power consumption of the radio node.

One exemplary embodiment of the disclosure relates to a WCS. The WCSincludes a radio node coupled to an antenna array configured to radiatesequentially a plurality of RF reference beams in a plurality ofdirections in a coverage area. The radio node includes a controlcircuit. The control circuit is configured to receive an indicationsignal comprising at least one location of at least one UE in thecoverage area. The control circuit is also configured to determine oneor more selected RF reference beams among the plurality of RF referencebeams based on the at least one location of the at least one UE. Thecontrol circuit is also configured to cause the antenna array to radiatesequentially the one or more selected RF reference beams.

An additional exemplary embodiment of the disclosure relates to a methodfor supporting selective RF reference beam radiation in a WCS. Themethod includes receiving an indication signal comprising at least onelocation of at least one UE in a coverage area. The method also includesdetermining one or more selected RF reference beams among a plurality ofRF reference beams based on the at least one location of the at leastone UE. The method also includes radiating sequentially the one or moreselected RF reference beams.

Additional features and advantages will be set forth in the detaileddescription which follows, and in part will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art from the description or recognized by practicing theembodiments as described in the written description and claims hereof,as well as the appended drawings.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are merely exemplary, and areintended to provide an overview or framework to understand the natureand character of the claims.

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of thisspecification. The drawings illustrate one or more embodiment(s), andtogether with the description serve to explain principles and operationof the various embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary wireless communicationssystem (WCS), such as a distributed communications system (DCS),configured to distribute communications services to remote coverageareas;

FIGS. 2A-2C are graphic diagrams providing exemplary illustration of anumber of fundamental aspects related to radio frequency (RF)beamforming;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary DCS configured accordingto any of the embodiments disclosed herein to selectively radiate RFreference beam radiation based on user equipment (UE) locations;

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram of a WCS, such as the DCS of FIG. 3 ,including a radio node configured according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure to radiate one or more selected RF reference beamsbased on locations of one or more UEs located in a coverage area of theradio node;

FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram providing an exemplary illustration ofthe radio node in FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an exemplary process that may be employed bythe radio node in FIGS. 4A and 4B to support selective radiation of RFreference beams based on UE locations;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an exemplary process that may be employed tohelp enable selective RF reference beam radiation based on UE locations;

FIG. 7 is a partial schematic cut-away diagram of an exemplary buildinginfrastructure in a WCS, such as the DCS of FIG. 3 and the WCS of FIG.4A;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary mobile telecommunicationsenvironment that can includes the DCS of FIG. 3 and the WCS of FIG. 4Afor supporting selective RF reference beam radiation based on UElocations; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a representation of an exemplarycomputer system that can be included in or interfaced with any of thecomponents in the DCS of FIG. 3 and the WCS in FIG. 4A for supportingselective RF reference beam radiation based on UE locations, wherein theexemplary computer system is configured to execute instructions from anexemplary computer-readable medium.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments disclosed herein include selective radio frequency (RF)reference beam radiation in a wireless communications system (WCS) basedon user equipment (UE) locations. In a non-limiting example, the WCSincludes a radio node, such as a fifth-generation new radio (5G-NR) basestation (gNoteB), configured to communicate RF communications signalswith a number of UEs in a coverage area based on RF beamforming. Thus,the radio node is required to periodically radiate a number of RFreference beams (e.g., up to sixty-four) in different directions of thecoverage area to help the UEs to identify a best-possible RF beam(s) forcommunication with the radio node. However, radiating the RF beams indifferent directions periodically can increase computational complexityand power consumption of the radio node, particularly when the UEs areconcentrated at a handful of locations in the coverage area. In thisregard, the radio node can be configured to selectively radiate a subsetof the RF reference beams based on a determined location(s) of the UE(s)in the coverage area, thus making it possible to reduce computationalcomplexity and power consumption of the radio node.

Before discussing a WCS configured to support selective RF referencebeam radiation based on UE locations to help reduce power consumption,starting at FIG. 3 , a brief overview is first provided with referenceto FIGS. 2A-2C to help explain some fundamental aspects related to RFbeamforming.

In this regard, FIGS. 2A-2C are graphic diagrams providing exemplaryillustration of a number of fundamental aspects related to RFbeamforming. In general, beamforming refers to a technique that usesmultiple antennas to simultaneously radiate an RF signal in an RFspectrum, such as a millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum. The multipleantennas are typically organized into an antenna array (e.g., 4×4, 8×8,16×16, etc.) and separated from each other by at least one-half (½)wavelength. The RF signal is pre-processed based on a beam weight set,which includes multiple beam weights corresponding to the multipleantennas, respectively, to generate multiple weighted RF signals. Themultiple weighted RF signals are then fed to the multiple antennas,respectively, for simultaneous radiation in the RF spectrum. Asillustrated in FIG. 2A, by pre-processing the RF signal based onmultiple beam weight sets, it may be possible to form multiple RF beams200 pointing to multiple directions, respectively.

Each beam weight in a given beam weight set is a complex weightconsisting of a respective phase term and a respective amplitude term.The phase terms in the complex beam weight can be so determined to causethe multiple simultaneously radiated RF signals to constructivelycombine in one direction to form the RF beams 200, while destructivelyaveraging out in other directions. In this regard, the phase term candetermine how the RF beams 200 are formed and in which direction the RFbeams 200 are pointing. On the other hand, the amplitude terms in thecomplex beam weight may determine how many of the antennas in theantenna array are utilized to simultaneously radiate the RF signals.Notably, when more antennas are utilized to simultaneously radiate theRF signals, the RF beams 200 will become more concentrated to have anarrower beamwidth and a higher beamformed antenna gain. In contrast,when fewer antennas are utilized to simultaneously radiate the RFsignals, the RF beams 200 will become more spread out to have a widerbeamwidth and a less beamformed antenna gain. In this regard, theamplitude term can determine the beamwidth of the RF beams 200.

FIG. 2B is a graphic diagram of an exemplary spherical coordinate system202 that helps explain how the complex beam weight can be determined.The spherical coordinate system 202 includes an x-axis 204, a y-axis206, and a z-axis 208. The x-axis 204 and the y-axis 206 collectivelydefine an x-y plane 210, the y-axis 206 and the z-axis 208 collectivelydefine a y-z plane 212, and the x-axis 204 and the z-axis 208collectively define an x-z plane 214. Depending how the multipleantennas are arranged in the antenna array, a beam weight w_(n) may bedetermined based on equations (Eq. 1-Eq. 4) below.

The equation (Eq. 1) below illustrates how a beam weight w_(n) may bedetermined when the multiple antennas are arranged linearly along they-axis 206.

$\begin{matrix}{w_{n} = {e^{{- j}2\pi{n \cdot \frac{dy}{\lambda} \cdot \sin}\theta}\left( {0 \leqslant n \leqslant {N - 1}} \right)}} & \left( {{Eq}.1} \right)\end{matrix}$

In the equation (Eq. 1) above, N represents a total number of theantennas in the antenna array, and θ represents a zenith angle. Theequation (Eq. 2) below illustrates how a beam weight w_(m,n) may bedetermined when the multiple antennas are arranged in an M×N matrix inthe x-y plane 210.

$\begin{matrix}{w_{m,n} = {e^{{- j}2\pi{m \cdot \frac{dx}{\lambda} \cdot \sin}{\theta\cos}\phi}{e^{{- j}2\pi{n \cdot \frac{dy}{\lambda} \cdot \sin}{\theta\sin\phi}}\left( {{0 \leqslant m \leqslant {M - 1}},{0 \leqslant n \leqslant {N - 1}}} \right)}}} & \left( {{Eq}.2} \right)\end{matrix}$

In the equation (Eq. 2) above, M and N represent the number of rows andthe number of columns of M×N matrix, respectively, and ϕ represents anazimuth angle. The equation (Eq. 3) below illustrates how the beamweight w_(m,n) may be determined when the multiple antennas are arrangedin an M×N matrix in the y-z plane 212.

$\begin{matrix}{w_{m,n} = {e^{{- j}2\pi{m \cdot \frac{dz}{\lambda} \cdot \cos}\theta}{e^{{- j}2\pi{n \cdot \frac{dy}{\lambda} \cdot \sin}{\theta\sin\phi}}\left( {{0 \leqslant m \leqslant {M - 1}},{0 \leqslant n \leqslant {N - 1}}} \right)}}} & \left( {{Eq}.3} \right)\end{matrix}$

The equation (Eq. 4) below illustrates how the beam weight w_(m,n) maybe determined when the multiple antennas are arranged in an M×N matrixin the x-z plane 214.

$\begin{matrix}{w_{m,n} = {e^{{- j}2\pi{m \cdot \frac{dx}{\lambda} \cdot \sin}{\theta\cos\phi}}e^{{- j}2\pi{n \cdot \frac{dz}{\lambda} \cdot \cos}\theta}\left( {{0 \leqslant m \leqslant {M - 1}},{0 \leqslant n \leqslant {N - 1}}} \right)}} & \left( {{Eq}.4} \right)\end{matrix}$

Notably, the equations (Eq. 1-Eq. 4) are non-limiting examples of aso-called “delay-and-sum” method for determining the beam weightw_(m,n). It should be appreciated that the beam weight w_(m,n) may alsobe determined based on other methods and/or algorithms. Although it maybe possible for the antennas in the antenna array to form the multipleRF beams 200 in FIG. 2A in the multiple directions, an actual number ofthe RF beams 200 is typically limited by a standard-defined parameterknown as the synchronization signal block (SSB). In this regard, FIG. 2Cis a graphic diagram providing an exemplary illustration on how the SSBlimits the actual number of the RF beams 200 that may be formed by theantennas in the antenna array.

In conventional wireless systems, such as the fourth-generation (4G)long-term evolution (LTE) wireless systems, a base station (a.k.a.eNodeB) is typically configured to radiate a cell-wide reference signalomnidirectionally to enable cell discovery and coverage measurement by aUE. However, a 5G-NR system does not provide the cell-wide referencesignal. Instead, a 5G-NR base station 216 (a.k.a., gNodeB) is configuredto radiate a number of RF reference beams 218(1)-218(N) in differentdirections of a 5G-NR coverage cell. The RF reference beams218(1)-218(N) are associated with a number of SSBs 220(1)-220(N),respectively. Each of the SSBs 220(1)-220(N) may include a primarysynchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS),and a 5G-NR physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

In this regard, a 5G-NR UE in the 5G-NR coverage cell can sweep throughthe RF reference beams 218(1)-218(N) to identify a candidate RFreference beam(s) associated with a strongest reference signal receivedpower (RSRP). Further, the 5G-NR UE may decode a candidate SSB(s)associated with the identified candidate RF reference beam(s) to acquiresuch information as physical cell identification (PCI) and a PBCHdemodulation reference signal (DMRS). Based on the candidate RFreference beam(s) reported by the 5G-NR UE, the 5G-NR base station 216may pinpoint a location of the 5G-NR UE and steer a data-bearing RF beamtoward the 5G-NR UE to enable data communication with the 5G-NR UE.

The SSBs 220(1)-220(N) may be organized into an SSB burst set 222 to berepeated periodically in a number of SSB burst periods 224. The SSBburst set 222 may be five-milliseconds (5 ms) in duration, and the SSBburst periods 224 may repeat every twenty milliseconds (20 ms). Thebeamforming standard, as presently defined by the third-generationpartnership project (3GPP), allows a maximum of 64 SSBs to be scheduledin the SSB burst set 222. Accordingly, the 5G-NR base station 216 canradiate up to 64 reference beams 218(1)-218(N) in each of the SSB burstperiods 224.

Understandably, the 5G-NR base station 216 will be able to maximizecoverage in the 5G-NR coverage cell by radiating the maximum number(e.g., 64) of the RF reference beams 218(1)-218(N) in each of the SSBburst periods 224. However, radiating the maximum number of the RFreference beams 218(1)-218(N) can introduce significant overhead interms of computational complexity and power consumption. As such, it maybe desirable to maximize coverage in the 5G-NR coverage cell byradiating as few of the RF reference beams 218(1)-218(N) as possible.

In this regard, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary DCS 300configured according to any of the embodiments disclosed herein toselectively radiate RF reference beams based on UE locations. The DCS300 supports both legacy 4G LTE, 4G/5G non-standalone (NSA), and 5Gstandalone communications systems. As shown in FIG. 3 , a centralizedservices node 302 is provided that is configured to interface with acore network to exchange communications data and distribute thecommunications data as radio signals to remote units. In this example,the centralized services node 302 is configured to support distributedcommunications services to an mmWave radio node 304. The functions ofthe centralized services node 302 can be virtualized through an x2interface 306 to another services node 308. The centralized servicesnode 302 can also include one or more internal radio nodes that areconfigured to be interfaced with a distribution node 310 to distributecommunications signals for the radio nodes to an open random accessnetwork (O-RAN) remote unit 312 that is configured to be communicativelycoupled through an O-RAN interface 314.

The centralized services node 302 can also be interfaced through an x2interface 316 to a digital baseband unit (BBU) 318 that can provide adigital signal source to the centralized services node 302. The digitalBBU 318 is configured to provide a signal source to the centralizedservices node 302 to provide downlink communications signals 320D to theO-RAN remote unit 312 as well as to a digital routing unit (DRU) 322 aspart of a digital distributed antenna system (DAS). The DRU 322 isconfigured to split and distribute the downlink communications signals320D to different types of remote units, including a low-power remoteunit (LPR) 324, a radio antenna unit (dRAU) 326, a mid-power remote unit(dMRU) 328, and a high-power remote unit (dHRU) 330. The DRU 322 is alsoconfigured to combine uplink communications signals 320U received fromthe LPR 324, the dRAU 326, the dMRU 328, and the dHRU 330 and providethe combined uplink communications signals to the digital BBU 318. Thedigital BBU 318 is also configured to interface with a third-partycentral unit 332 and/or an analog source 334 through an RF/digitalconverter 336.

The DRU 322 may be coupled to the LPR 324, the dRAU 326, the dMRU 328,and the dHRU 330 via an optical fiber-based communications medium 338.In this regard, the DRU 322 can include a respectiveelectrical-to-optical (E/O) converter 340 and a respectiveoptical-to-electrical (O/E) converter 342. Likewise, each of the LPR324, the dRAU 326, the dMRU 328, and the dHRU 330 can include arespective E/O converter 344 and a respective O/E converter 346.

The E/O converter 340 at the DRU 322 is configured to convert thedownlink communications signals 320D into downlink opticalcommunications signals 348D for distribution to the LPR 324, the dRAU326, the dMRU 328, and the dHRU 330 via the optical fiber-basedcommunications medium 338. The O/E converter 346 at each of the LPR 324,the dRAU 326, the dMRU 328, and the dHRU 330 is configured to convertthe downlink optical communications signals 348D back to the downlinkcommunications signals 320D. The E/O converter 344 at each of the LPR324, the dRAU 326, the dMRU 328, and the dHRU 330 is configured toconvert the uplink communications signals 320U into uplink opticalcommunications signals 348U. The O/E converter 342 at the DRU 322 isconfigured to convert the uplink optical communications signals 348Uback to the uplink communications signals 320U.

The mmWave radio node 304 may be a 5G-NR base station (a.k.a. gNodeB)that is functionally equivalent to the 5G-NR base station 216 in FIG.2C. Like the 5G-NR base station 216, the mmWave radio node 304 can beconfigured according to the 3GPP standard to radiate up to 64 referencebeams 218(1)-218(N) in each of the SSB burst periods 224.

However, the mmWave radio node 304 is different from the 5G-NR basestation 216 in that the mmWave radio node 304 can be further configuredaccording to embodiments disclosed herein to support selective RFreference beam radiation based on UE locations, thus helping to reducepower consumption at the mmWave radio node 304. Specifically, the mmWaveradio node 304 may receive a location of a UE(s) in a coverage area ofthe mmWave radio node 304 and radiate a subset of the 64 reference beams218(1)-218(N) toward the UE(s). The location of the UE(s) may berepresented by a predetermined location index number, a pair oftwo-dimensional (2D) coordinates, a set of three-dimensional (3D)coordinates, a geo-location tag (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) address),or a combination thereof. Accordingly, the mmWave radio node 304 candetermine (e.g., from a preconfigured lookup table) the zenith angle θand the azimuth angle ϕ, as shown in the spherical coordinate system 202of FIG. 2B, for steering the selected RF reference beams toward theUE(s). In addition, the mmWave radio node 304 may opportunistically stopradiating all RF reference beams when there is no UE in the coveragearea and/or during a certain time (e.g., wee hours). As a result, it ispossible to significantly reduce power consumption of the mmWave radionode 304.

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram of a WCS 400, such as the DCS 300 of FIG.3 , including a radio node 402 configured according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure to radiate one or more selected RF referencebeams 404 based on locations of one or more UEs 406 located in acoverage area 408 of the radio node 402. In a non-limiting example, theradio node 402 is a 5G NR base station (gNodeB) that is functionallyidentical to the mmWave radio node 304 in the DCS 300 of FIG. 3 .

FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram providing an exemplary illustration ofthe radio node 402 of FIG. 4A. Common elements between FIGS. 4A and 4Bare shown therein with common element numbers and will not bere-described herein. The radio node 402 may include or be coupled to anantenna array 410 having a large number of radiating elements. Theantenna array 410 is configured to radiate sequentially a plurality ofRF reference beams 412 in a plurality of directions, respectively, inthe coverage area 408. Like the mmWave radio node 304 in FIG. 3 , theradio node 402 can be configured according to the 3GPP standard toradiate up to 64 RF reference beams 412.

The radio node 402 includes a control circuit 414, which can be a signalprocessing circuit, a transceiver circuit, or a field-programmable gatearray (FPGA), as an example. As discussed in detail below, the controlcircuit 414 is configured to cause the antenna array 410 to selectivelyradiate the selected RF reference beams 404 in FIG. 4A, which is asubset of the RF reference beams 412. According to previous discussionsin FIG. 2B, the control circuit 414 can cause the antenna array 410 toradiate the selected RF reference beams 404 toward the UEs 406 byproviding a beam control signal 416 that includes beam weight sets sodetermined based on the zenith angle θ and the azimuth angle ϕ. Thecontrol circuit 414 may determine the beam weight sets based on the“delay-and-sum” method as shown in the equations (Eq. 1-Eq. 4) and/orany other algorithms deemed appropriate.

The radio node 402 may include a memory circuit 418, which can be randomaccess memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, register, orany combination thereof. The memory circuit 418 may store a lookup tablethat correlates a location(s) of a UE(s) to the zenith angle θ and theazimuth angle ϕ. In this regard, the control circuit 414 can retrievethe zenith angle θ and the azimuth angle ϕ from the lookup table basedon the location(s) of the UE(s) to help determine the beam weight setsin the beam control signal 416.

With reference back to FIG. 4A, like the DCS 300 in FIG. 3 , the WCS 400can be a 4G/5G NSA system. In this regard, the coverage area 408 of theradio node 402 can overlap (entirely or partially) with an auxiliarycoverage area 420 anchored by an auxiliary radio node 422. In anon-limiting example, the auxiliary radio node 422 can be a 4G basestation (eNodeB). The auxiliary radio node 422 may be collocated withnon-3GPP radio devices, such as a Wi-Fi access point (AP), a Bluetoothdevice, and/or a global positioning system (GPS) device, that can assistin determining a geo-location(s) of the UEs 406.

In the 4G/5G NSA system, the auxiliary radio node 422 and the radio node402 will coexist and operate concurrently. As previously described inFIG. 2C, the auxiliary radio node 422 is configured to radiate acell-wide reference signal omnidirectionally in the auxiliary coveragearea 420 such that the UEs 406 can perform cell discovery and coveragemeasurement when entering into the auxiliary coverage area 420.Accordingly, the UEs 406 will likely discover and thereby register withthe auxiliary radio node 422 before discovering and registering with theradio node 402.

In this regard, when the UEs 406 register with the auxiliary radio node422, the auxiliary radio node 422 will be able to obtain location andcapability (e.g., 5G capability) information from the UEs 406.Concurrently or subsequently, the non-3GPP radio devices collocated withthe auxiliary radio node 422 may also provide additional geo-location(s)of the UEs 406. The location and capability information obtained by theauxiliary radio node 422, in conjunction with the geo-location(s)provided by the non-3GPP radio devices, may in turn be used to determinethe location(s) of the UEs 406 in the coverage area 408.

The WCS 400 can be configured to include a centralized service node 424(denoted as “vCU”), which may be identical to the centralized servicesnode 302 in FIG. 3 . The centralized service node 424 is communicativelycoupled to the radio node 402, the auxiliary radio node 422, and thenon-3GPP radio devices collocated with the auxiliary radio node 422 ifthe non-3GPP radio devices are present.

The auxiliary radio node 422 may be configured to provide a locationupdate 426, which includes the location and capability information, tothe centralized service node 424 whenever the UEs 406 register with theauxiliary radio node 422 or change location in the auxiliary coveragearea 420. In one embodiment, the location update 426 may optionallyinclude the geo-location(s) obtained by the non-3GPP radio devices.Alternatively, the non-3GPP radio devices may send the geo-location(s)to the centralized service node 424 separately. The centralized servicenode 424 may provide an indication signal 428 to the radio node 402 toindicate the location and capability information of the UEs 406. In anon-limiting example, the centralized service node 424 can be configuredto provide the indication signal 428 periodically (e.g., every 10 to 100milliseconds) and/or in response to receive the location update from theauxiliary radio node 422. Accordingly, the radio node 402 can determinethe selected RF reference beams 404 based on the location and capabilityinformation indicated in the indication signal 428.

The coverage area 408 may be pre-divided into a plurality of coveragesectors 430(1)-430(N). Each of the coverage sectors 430(1)-430(N) can beassociated with one or more of the RF reference beams 412 that the radionode 402 can maximumly radiate in accordance to the 3GPP standard. Inthis regard, it is possible to map the location(s) of the UEs 406 to aselected coverage sector(s) among the coverage sectors 430(1)-430(N) andchoose the RF reference beams associated with the selected coveragesector(s) as the selected RF reference beams 404.

For example, the UEs 406 are determined to be located in the coveragesectors 430(1) and 430(3). In this regard, the coverage sectors 430(1)and 430(3) are determined as the selected coverage areas and the RFreference beams associated with the selected coverage sectors 430(1) and430(3) will be determined as the selected RF reference beams 404.Accordingly, the radio node 402 will radiate the selected RF referencebeams 404 in the selected coverage sectors 430(1) and 430(3). Incontrast, the radio node 402 will not radiate any of the RF referencebeams 412 in those coverage sectors, such as coverage sector 430(2),without any UE, thus helping to reduce power consumption at the radionode 402.

The radio node 402 may be further configured not to radiate any of theRF reference beams 412 in any of the coverage sectors 430(1)-430(N) incase no UE is detected in any of the coverage sectors 430(1)-430(N)and/or during a certain time period (e.g., wee hours) of a day. In anon-limiting example, the radio node 402 can determine that no UE islocated in any of the coverage sectors 430(1)-430(N) if the indicationsignal 428 does not include the location(s) of the UEs 406.

Notably, some of the UEs 406 may not have the capability to correctlyreceive and process the selected RF reference beams 404. In this regard,the radio node 402 may further determine whether the UEs 406 can receiveand process the selected RF reference beams 404 based on the capabilityinformation received from the indication signal 428. Accordingly, theradio node 402 can refrain from radiating the selected RF referencebeams 404 to any of the UEs 406 determined to be incapable of receivingand processing the selected RF reference beams 404. In a non-limitingexample, the radio node 402 can determine whether the UEs 406 arecapable of receiving and processing the selected RF reference beams 404based on a capability indication received from the indication signal428.

The UEs 406 may receive the selected RF reference beams 404 eitherdirectly (line-of-sight) or indirectly (non-line-of-sight). In somecases, a non-line-of-sight RF reference beam (e.g., reflected by aphysical object), may even be stronger than a line-of-sight RF referencebeam. In this regard, the radio node 402 may be further configured toinstruct, via a radio resource control (RRC) signal for example, the UEs406 to select a specific one of the selected RF reference beams 404. Ina non-limiting example, the radio node 402 may determine the specificone of the selected RF reference beams 404 based on historical dataand/or simulation data pertaining to the location(s) of the UEs 406.

Since the coverage area 408 and the auxiliary coverage area 420 may bepartially overlapped, it is understandably possible that a UE can belocated inside the coverage area 408 but outside the auxiliary coveragearea 420. As a result, the UE may not be able to discover and registerwith the auxiliary radio node 422. In this regard, to help such UE todiscover and register with the radio node 402, the radio node 402 may beconfigured to periodically radiate all of the RF reference beams 412 inall of the coverage sectors 430(1)-430(N) (also referred to as “a fullreference beam sweep” hereinafter). To help conserve energy, the radionode 402 may perform the full reference beam sweep based on an extendedinterval (e.g., every 1 to 10 seconds). To help further conserve energy,the radio node 402 may be further configured to radiate each of the RFreference beams 412 during the full reference beam sweep with a widerbeamwidth that a respective beamwidth used to radiate any of theselected RF reference beams 404.

The radio node 402 may be configured to selectively radiate the selectedRF reference beams 404 based on the locations of the UEs 406 inaccordance to a process. In this regard, FIG. 5 is a flowchart of anexemplary process 500 that may be employed by the radio node 402 inFIGS. 4A and 4B to support selective radiation of RF reference beamsbased on UE locations.

Specifically, the radio node 402 receives the indication signal 428 thatincludes the location(s) of the UEs 406 in the coverage area 408 (block502). The radio node 402 then determines the selected RF reference beams404 among the RF reference beams 412 based on the location(s) of the UEs406 (block 504). Accordingly, the radio node 402 radiates the selectedRF reference beams 404 (block 506).

With reference back to FIG. 4A, the centralized service node 424 can beconfigured to process the location and capability information and/or thegeo-location(s) received in the location update 426 to determine thelocation(s) of the UEs 406 in the coverage area 408. The centralizedservice node 424 may employ, for example artificial intelligence (AI)algorithms, to determine the location(s) of the UEs 406 based on prioriinformation (e.g., floor plan, location map, surrounding environment,historical data, etc.). In a non-limiting example, the centralizedservice node 424 generates the indication signal 428 to include thelocation(s) of the UE 406 if the location update 426 contains thelocation and configuration of the UEs 406. In contrast, the centralizedservice node 424 generates the indication signal 428 without thelocation(s) of the UE 406 if the location update 426 does not containthe location and configuration of the UEs 406.

To register with the auxiliary radio node 422, the UEs 406 need toexchange capability information with the auxiliary radio node 422. Thecapability information may indicate whether the UEs 406 are 5G-capableto support RF beamforming. In this regard, the auxiliary radio node 422may include a capability indication(s) in the location update 426 toindicate whether the UEs 406 are 5G-capable. The centralized servicenode 424 may include the capability indication in the indication signal428 such that the radio node 402 can determine whether the UEs 406 cancorrectly receive and process the selected RF reference beams 404.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an exemplary process 600 that may be employedto help enable selective RF reference beam radiation based on UElocations. The process 600 includes creating zone table and UE geo-map(block 602). The process 600 also includes storing the UE geo-map (block604). The process 600 also includes identifying an active zone (block606). The process 600 also includes feeding the active zone (e.g., tothe radio node 402) (block 608). The process also includes communicatingtraffic (e.g., between the radio node 402 and the UEs 406) (block 610).The process 600 may periodically check whether there is a need to updatethe geo-map. If so, the process 600 returns to block 604. Otherwise, theprocess 600 stays in block 610.

The DCS 300 of FIG. 3 and the WCS 400 in FIG. 4A can be provided in anindoor environment as illustrated in FIG. 7 . FIG. 7 is a partialschematic cut-away diagram of an exemplary building infrastructure 700in a WCS, such as the DCS 300 of FIG. 3 and the WCS 400 of FIG. 4A. Thebuilding infrastructure 700 in this embodiment includes a first (ground)floor 702(1), a second floor 702(2), and a third floor 702(3). Thefloors 702(1)-702(3) are serviced by a central unit 704 to provideantenna coverage areas 706 in the building infrastructure 700. Thecentral unit 704 is communicatively coupled to a base station 708 toreceive downlink communications signals 710D from the base station 708.The central unit 704 is communicatively coupled to a plurality of remoteunits 712 to distribute the downlink communications signals 710D to theremote units 712 and to receive uplink communications signals 710U fromthe remote units 712, as previously discussed above. The downlinkcommunications signals 710D and the uplink communications signals 710Ucommunicated between the central unit 704 and the remote units 712 arecarried over a riser cable 714. The riser cable 714 may be routedthrough interconnect units (ICUs) 716(1)-716(3) dedicated to each of thefloors 702(1)-702(3) that route the downlink communications signals 710Dand the uplink communications signals 710U to the remote units 712 andalso provide power to the remote units 712 via array cables 718.

The DCS 300 of FIG. 3 and the WCS 400 of FIG. 4A configured to supportselective RF reference beam radiation based on UE locations can also beinterfaced with different types of radio nodes of service providersand/or supporting service providers, including macrocell systems, smallcell systems, and remote radio heads (RRH) systems, as examples. Forexample, FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary mobiletelecommunications environment 800 (also referred to as “environment800”) that includes radio nodes and cells that may support sharedspectrum, such as unlicensed spectrum, and can be interfaced to sharedspectrum DCSs 801 supporting coordination of distribution of sharedspectrum from multiple service providers to remote units to bedistributed to subscriber devices. The shared spectrum DCSs 801 caninclude the DCS 300 of FIG. 3 and the WCS 400 of FIG. 4A, as an example.

The environment 800 includes exemplary macrocell RANs 802(1)-802(M)(“macrocells 802(1)-802(M)”) and an exemplary small cell RAN 804 locatedwithin an enterprise environment 806 and configured to service mobilecommunications between a user mobile communications device 808(1)-808(N)to a mobile network operator (MNO) 810. A serving RAN for the usermobile communications devices 808(1)-808(N) is a RAN or cell in the RANin which the user mobile communications devices 808(1)-808(N) have anestablished communications session with the exchange of mobilecommunications signals for mobile communications. Thus, a serving RANmay also be referred to herein as a serving cell. For example, the usermobile communications devices 808(3)-808(N) in FIG. 8 are being servicedby the small cell RAN 804, whereas the user mobile communicationsdevices 808(1) and 808(2) are being serviced by the macrocell 802. Themacrocell 802 is an MNO macrocell in this example. However, a sharedspectrum RAN 803 (also referred to as “shared spectrum cell 803”)includes a macrocell in this example and supports communications onfrequencies that are not solely licensed to a particular MNO, such asCBRS for example, and thus may service user mobile communicationsdevices 808(1)-808(N) independent of a particular MNO. For example, theshared spectrum cell 803 may be operated by a third party that is not anMNO and wherein the shared spectrum cell 803 supports CBRS. Also, asshown in FIG. 8 , the MNO macrocell 802, the shared spectrum cell 803,and/or the small cell RAN 804 can interface with a shared spectrum DCS801 supporting coordination of distribution of shared spectrum frommultiple service providers to remote units to be distributed tosubscriber devices. The MNO macrocell 802, the shared spectrum cell 803,and the small cell RAN 804 may be neighboring radio access systems toeach other, meaning that some or all can be in proximity to each othersuch that a user mobile communications device 808(3)-808(N) may be ableto be in communications range of two or more of the MNO macrocell 802,the shared spectrum cell 803, and the small cell RAN 804 depending onthe location of the user mobile communications devices 808(3)-808(N).

In FIG. 8 , the mobile telecommunications environment 800 in thisexample is arranged as an LTE system as described by the ThirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) as an evolution of the GSM/UMTSstandards (Global System for Mobile communication/Universal MobileTelecommunications System). It is emphasized, however, that the aspectsdescribed herein may also be applicable to other network types andprotocols. The mobile telecommunications environment 800 includes theenterprise environment 806 in which the small cell RAN 804 isimplemented. The small cell RAN 804 includes a plurality of small cellradio nodes 812(1)-812(C). Each small cell radio node 812(1)-812(C) hasa radio coverage area (graphically depicted in the drawings as ahexagonal shape) that is commonly termed a “small cell.” A small cellmay also be referred to as a femtocell or, using terminology defined by3GPP, as a Home Evolved Node B (HeNB). In the description that follows,the term “cell” typically means the combination of a radio node and itsradio coverage area unless otherwise indicated.

In FIG. 8 , the small cell RAN 804 includes one or more services nodes(represented as a single services node 814) that manage and control thesmall cell radio nodes 812(1)-812(C). In alternative implementations,the management and control functionality may be incorporated into aradio node, distributed among nodes, or implemented remotely (i.e.,using infrastructure external to the small cell RAN 804). The small cellradio nodes 812(1)-812(C) are coupled to the services node 814 over adirect or local area network (LAN) connection 816 as an example,typically using secure IPsec tunnels. The small cell radio nodes812(1)-812(C) can include multi-operator radio nodes. The services node814 aggregates voice and data traffic from the small cell radio nodes812(1)-812(C) and provides connectivity over an IPsec tunnel to asecurity gateway (SeGW) 818 in a network 820 (e.g, evolved packet core(EPC) network in a 4G network, or 5G Core in a 5G network) of the MNO810. The network 820 is typically configured to communicate with apublic switched telephone network (PSTN) 822 to carry circuit-switchedtraffic, as well as for communicating with an external packet-switchednetwork such as the Internet 824.

The environment 800 also generally includes a node (e.g., eNodeB orgNodeB) base station, or “macrocell” 802. The radio coverage area of themacrocell 802 is typically much larger than that of a small cell wherethe extent of coverage often depends on the base station configurationand surrounding geography. Thus, a given user mobile communicationsdevice 808(3)-808(N) may achieve connectivity to the network 820 (e.g.,EPC network in a 4G network, or 5G Core in a 5G network) through eithera macrocell 802 or small cell radio node 812(1)-812(C) in the small cellRAN 804 in the environment 800.

Any of the circuits in the DCS 300 of FIG. 3 and the WCS 400 of FIG. 4A,such as the control circuit 414 and/or the centralized service node 424,can include a computer system 900, such as that shown in FIG. 9 , tocarry out their functions and operations. With reference to FIG. 9 , thecomputer system 900 includes a set of instructions for causing themulti-operator radio node component(s) to provide its designedfunctionality, and the circuits discussed above. The multi-operatorradio node component(s) may be connected (e.g., networked) to othermachines in a LAN, an intranet, an extranet, or the Internet. Themulti-operator radio node component(s) may operate in a client-servernetwork environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (ordistributed) network environment. While only a single device isillustrated, the term “device” shall also be taken to include anycollection of devices that individually or jointly execute a set (ormultiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein. The multi-operator radio nodecomponent(s) may be a circuit or circuits included in an electronicboard card, such as a printed circuit board (PCB) as an example, aserver, a personal computer, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a computing pad, a mobile device, orany other device, and may represent, for example, a server, edgecomputer, or a user's computer. The exemplary computer system 900 inthis embodiment includes a processing circuit or processor 902, a mainmemory 904 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), etc.), and astatic memory 906 (e.g., flash memory, static random access memory(SRAM), etc.), which may communicate with each other via a data bus 908.Alternatively, the processing circuit 902 may be connected to the mainmemory 904 and/or static memory 906 directly or via some otherconnectivity means. The processing circuit 902 may be a controller, andthe main memory 904 or static memory 906 may be any type of memory.

The processing circuit 902 represents one or more general-purposeprocessing circuits such as a microprocessor, central processing unit,or the like. More particularly, the processing circuit 902 may be acomplex instruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, a reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) microprocessor, a very long instructionword (VLIW) microprocessor, a processor implementing other instructionsets, or processors implementing a combination of instruction sets. Theprocessing circuit 902 is configured to execute processing logic ininstructions 916 for performing the operations and steps discussedherein.

The computer system 900 may further include a network interface device910. The computer system 900 also may or may not include an input 912 toreceive input and selections to be communicated to the computer system900 when executing instructions. The computer system 900 also may or maynot include an output 914, including but not limited to a display, avideo display unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathoderay tube (CRT)), an alphanumeric input device (e.g., a keyboard), and/ora cursor control device (e.g., a mouse).

The computer system 900 may or may not include a data storage devicethat includes instructions 916 stored in a computer-readable medium 918.The instructions 916 may also reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 904 and/or within the processing circuit 902during execution thereof by the computer system 900, the main memory 904and the processing circuit 902 also constituting the computer-readablemedium 918. The instructions 916 may further be transmitted or receivedover a network 920 via the network interface device 910.

While the computer-readable medium 918 is shown in an exemplaryembodiment to be a single medium, the term “computer-readable medium”should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches andservers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term“computer-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any mediumthat is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructionsfor execution by the processing circuit and that cause the processingcircuit to perform any one or more of the methodologies of theembodiments disclosed herein. The term “computer-readable medium” shallaccordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-statememories, optical and magnetic medium, and carrier wave signals.

Note that as an example, any “ports,” “combiners,” “splitters,” andother “circuits” mentioned in this description may be implemented usingField Programmable Logic Array(s) (FPGA(s)) and/or a digital signalprocessor(s) (DSP(s)), and therefore, may be embedded within the FPGA orbe performed by computational processes.

The embodiments disclosed herein include various steps. The steps of theembodiments disclosed herein may be performed by hardware components ormay be embodied in machine-executable instructions, which may be used tocause a general-purpose or special-purpose processor programmed with theinstructions to perform the steps. Alternatively, the steps may beperformed by a combination of hardware and software.

The embodiments disclosed herein may be provided as a computer programproduct, or software, that may include a machine-readable medium (orcomputer-readable medium) having stored thereon instructions, which maybe used to program a computer system (or other electronic devices) toperform a process according to the embodiments disclosed herein. Amachine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing ortransmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., acomputer). For example, a machine-readable medium includes amachine-readable storage medium (e.g., read only memory (“ROM”), randomaccess memory (“RAM”), magnetic disk storage medium, optical storagemedium, flash memory devices, etc.).

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implementedor performed with a processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), anApplication Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field ProgrammableGate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A controllermay be a processor. A processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied in hardware and ininstructions that are stored in hardware, and may reside, for example,in Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, Read Only Memory (ROM),Electrically Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically ErasableProgrammable ROM (EEPROM), registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, aCD-ROM, or any other form of computer-readable medium known in the art.An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that theprocessor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anASIC. The ASIC may reside in a remote station. In the alternative, theprocessor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in aremote station, base station, or server.

Unless otherwise expressly stated, it is in no way intended that anymethod set forth herein be construed as requiring that its steps beperformed in a specific order. Accordingly, where a method claim doesnot actually recite an order to be followed by its steps or it is nototherwise specifically stated in the claims or descriptions that thesteps are to be limited to a specific order, it is no way intended thatany particular order be inferred.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention. Since modifications combinations,sub-combinations and variations of the disclosed embodimentsincorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur topersons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to includeeverything within the scope of the appended claims and theirequivalents.

We claim:
 1. A wireless communications system (WCS), comprising: a radionode coupled to an antenna array configured to radiate sequentially aplurality of radio frequency (RF) reference beams in a plurality ofdirections in a coverage area, wherein the radio node comprises acontrol circuit configured to: receive an indication signal comprisingat least one location of at least one user equipment (UE) in thecoverage area; determine one or more selected RF reference beams amongthe plurality of RF reference beams based on the at least one locationof the at least one UE; and cause the antenna array to radiatesequentially the one or more selected RF reference beams; and acentralized service node coupled to an auxiliary radio node covering anauxiliary coverage area that overlaps with the coverage area of theradio node, the centralized service node is configured to: receive alocation update from the auxiliary radio node; generate the indicationsignal comprising the at least one location if the location updateindicates the at least one location of the at least one UE; and generatethe indication signal not comprising the at least one location if thelocation update does not indicate the at least one location of the atleast one UE.
 2. The WCS of claim 1, wherein the radio node furthercomprises the antenna array.
 3. The WCS of claim 1, wherein the controlcircuit is further configured to instruct the at least one UE to selecta specific one of the one or more selected RF reference beams.
 4. TheWCS of claim 1, wherein the control circuit is further configured tocause the antenna array to radiate at least one of the one or moreselected RF reference beams directly toward the at least one UE at theat least one location.
 5. The WCS of claim 1, wherein the controlcircuit is further configured to cause the antenna array to radiate atleast one of the one or more selected RF reference beams indirectlytoward the at least one UE at the at least one location.
 6. The WCS ofclaim 1, wherein: the coverage area is divided into a plurality ofcoverage sectors each associated with a respective one or more of theplurality of RF reference beams; and the control circuit is furtherconfigured to: map the at least one location to at least one selectedcoverage sector among the plurality of coverage sectors; and determinethe one or more selected RF reference beams to be the respective one ormore of the plurality of RF reference beams associated with the at leastone selected coverage sector.
 7. The WCS of claim 6, wherein the controlcircuit is further configured to cause the antenna array not to radiateany of the plurality of RF reference beams not associated with the atleast one selected coverage sector.
 8. The WCS of claim 6, wherein thecontrol circuit is further configured to: receive the indication signalnot comprising the at least one location of the at least one UE; andcause the antenna array not to radiate any of the plurality of RFreference beams in any of the plurality of coverage sectors in responseto receiving the indication signal not comprising the at least onelocation of the at least one UE.
 9. The WCS of claim 6, wherein thecontrol circuit is further configured to cause the antenna array toradiate sequentially the plurality of RF reference beams in all of theplurality of coverage sectors based on an extended interval.
 10. The WCSof claim 9, wherein the control circuit is further configured to causethe antenna array to radiate sequentially the plurality of RF referencebeams in wider beamwidth.
 11. The WCS of claim 1, wherein thecentralized service node is further configured to: receive the locationupdate further comprising a capability indication that indicates whetherthe at least one UE is capable of receiving any of the plurality of RFreference beams; and generate the indication signal comprising thecapability indication.
 12. The WCS of claim 1, wherein: the WCS is athird-generation partnership project (3GPP) fourth-generation(4G)/fifth-generation (5G) non-standalone (4G/5G NSA) system; the radionode is a 5G base station (gNodeB); and the auxiliary radio node is a 4Gbase station (eNodeB) collocated with a non-3GPP radio device selectedfrom the group consisting of a Wi-Fi access point, a Bluetooth device,and a global positioning system (GPS) device.
 13. A method forsupporting selective radio frequency (RF) reference beam radiation in awireless communications system (WCS), comprising: receiving anindication signal comprising at least one location of at least one userequipment (UE) in a coverage area; determining one or more selectedradio frequency (RF) reference beams among a plurality of RF referencebeams based on the at least one location of the at least one UE;radiating sequentially the one or more selected RF reference beams;dividing the coverage area into a plurality of coverage sectors eachassociated with a respective one or more of the plurality of RFreference beams; mapping the at least one location to at least oneselected coverage sector among the plurality of coverage sectors; anddetermining the one or more selected RF reference beams to be therespective one or more of the plurality of RF reference beams associatedwith the at least one selected coverage sector; and not radiating any ofthe plurality of RF reference beams not associated with the at least oneselected coverage sector.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprisinginstructing the at least one UE to select a specific one of the one ormore selected RF reference beams.
 15. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising radiating at least one of the one or more selected RFreference beams directly toward the at least one UE at the at least onelocation.
 16. The method of claim 13, further comprising radiating atleast one of the one or more selected RF reference beams indirectlytoward the at least one UE at the at least one location.
 17. The methodof claim 13, further comprising: receiving the indication signal notcomprising the at least one location of the at least one UE; and notradiating any of the plurality of RF reference beams in any of theplurality of coverage sectors in response to receiving the indicationsignal not comprising the at least one location of the at least one UE.18. The method of claim 13, further comprising radiating sequentiallythe plurality of RF reference beams based on an extended interval. 19.The method of claim 13, further comprising radiating sequentially theplurality of RF reference beams in wider beamwidth.